I don't need another system...I don't need another system...I don't need another system...

[TennesseeTony]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...757934?hash=item360e749f2e:g:S0wAAOSwFGNWTefD

Add an old case, spare PSU, spare/new RAM, spare OS drive, cheap cooler, and a new motherboard, and you have a headless monster for cheap. Total system draw will be about 180-200watts at the wall, 28 threads. I've dealt with that seller before (Devastator's chip).

 

[Markfw]

But CPU's are so passay right now....

 

[iwajabitw]

Dang nice replacement for my 5820

 

[TennesseeTony]

Just a warning about use in primary systems...some games simply will not start/run with more than 8 cores (Tomb Raider from a few years ago, for example). And base clock of 2.0, boosting to 3.0GHz may not game as well either.

Ah yes Mark, GPU is the way to go, and hopefully the future, but you are limited on projects for now. Even worse is the projects that do have GPU apps, often only have apps for one brand of card or the other, or if they have both, one brand will totally suck while the other shines.

Some examples: GPUgrid-Nvidia only; Milkyway-apps for both, but uses double precision, giving the AMD cards a hefty advantage...generally; Universe-developing app for AMD only.

 

[crashtech]

I'm wondering where the sweet spot is for lots of cores in a used system. X79, maybe? X99 may be too new to be a good value. I won't be able to afford anything else for a while, but maybe an X79 with lots of PCIe x16 slots would be useful for CPU and GPU DC.

 

[Ionstream]

Boost bins for this particular chip: 5/5/5/5/5/5/5/5/5/6/7/8/10/10

So you're looking at 2.5 GHz base, provided you're not running AVX code.

 

[Assimilator1]

I'm wondering where the sweet spot is for lots of cores in a used system. X79, maybe? X99 may be too new to be a good value. I won't be able to afford anything else for a while, but maybe an X79 with lots of PCIe x16 slots would be useful for CPU and GPU DC.

I bought my X79 about 1 1/2 yrs ago (I think), initially I got an i7 4820k which cost about £100 (IIRC), just sold it for £70, replaced it with the 4930k, which generally are going for ~£250, but I got lucky & won mine for £200

 

[Assimilator1]

Btw, lots of CPU threads is good for Asteroids & Skynet

Although Asteroids does have a GPU app, I don't know how good it is though.

 

[bds71]

question: isn't the v3 designed for use in multi-cpu motherboards? why not get a dual CPU MB and a second cpu? (aside from that pesky money thing)

 

[Ionstream]

I'm wondering where the sweet spot is for lots of cores in a used system. X79, maybe? X99 may be too new to be a good value. I won't be able to afford anything else for a while, but maybe an X79 with lots of PCIe x16 slots would be useful for CPU and GPU DC.

Generally, I'd try to look for something with a minimum boost clock of 3 GHz (when fully loaded of course). That way, you can run a VM gaming station ^^. Of course, not many MCC/HCC chips with boost clocks this high exist, so your choices are limited.

 

[Assimilator1]

MCC/HCC?

 

[TennesseeTony]

question: isn't the v3 designed for use in multi-cpu motherboards? why not get a dual CPU MB and a second cpu? (aside from that pesky money thing)

Oddly enough, you lose performance with dual CPU, versus the single CPU. This is based on the links below, no personal experience:

21,951 for single vs 37,929 for dual when you would think it would simply double to 43,902 for the dual CPU setup. Although this is not a link to the chips above, I have found it a common theme, reduced performance on dual systems, regardless of the chip being compared.

And the money thing certainly is pesky. And then there is the ECC memory vs desktop.

 

[Markfw]

Many of the dual-socket mobos do NOT require ECC. I have 3 of them, and NO ECC memory on any of them,

 

[bds71]

yea, passmark tests the two CPU's as a single unit though(?). when crunching (be-it folding or whatever your preference) I would think you could set up the CPU's as individual units (similar to multiple GPU's - each which crunch their own units independently) - thereby "doubling" your output. sharing resources will almost always have overhead and inefficiencies that lower performance (don't even get me started on built-in graphics for CPUs)

but aye, I get it - that "money thing" is most often the cause of (not) doing something - heck, if I could, I'd be pumping out WAY more ppd that I am now....but that pesky money thing keeps rearing its ugly head. I was just hypothetically speaking

 

[Ionstream]

MCC/HCC?

Medium/High Core Count

It's Intel's way of classifying the chips.

 

[Assimilator1]

Ah ok, well I don't know if a 6C CPU counts as MCC, but by default mine boosts way over 3GHz, & I have overclocked it to 4.1 GHz, the only reason I can't really go higher is because the cooler is the limiting factor, it's the classic old Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme , & it's pretty much at it's limit (in warm weather).

 

[Ionstream]

Before settling for my dual Xeon setup, I was contemplating on purchasing an E5-1650v3 instead. Overclocking that sucker to 4 GHz on air appears to be rather easy.

 

[Assimilator1]

Looks like a newer (Xeon) version of my CPU, is it cheaper than the i7 5820k? (I know the nearest clock speed equivalent is the 5930k, but the k's do have unlocked multipliers ).

 

[Ionstream]

Newegg has these for $600 US, so the answer is no. There used to be a period of time where you could find 2nd hand chips from workstations though. That was before everyone started to hop onto the Xeon train.

They do use the same chip as the i7-5930k though. Although, I do believe the Xeon chips are better binned.

 

[petrusbroder]

Oh, BTW, you are wrong, Tony, you need an other new and very powerful system ...
And so do I ...

 

[TennesseeTony]

Well those are now sold out. Good thing I ordered 4 of them before they went out of stock.

Only one will be a new system, the other three will be replacing the chips in BumbleBee, WUSS, and Devastator. It's a big upgrade for Devastator, but a 200MHz downgrade for Bee and WUSS, but they will all be genuine now instead of QS/ES samples.

 

[Assimilator1]

I know what ES CPUs are, but QS?

 

[TennesseeTony]

ES is the early version, QS is qualification sample, which is the last step before selling them.

 

[Assimilator1]

Ah ok, didn't realise their was another step after the engineering samples.

So how come you're replacing them?

 

[TennesseeTony]

For Devastator, it's an extra 2 cores/4 threads and an extra 200MHz. I can recover almost 2/3rds of the cost of the new chip.

For BumbleBee and WUSS, although core count/thread count remains the same and I will lose 200MHz each, the currently installed chips are still pricey, and I can sell and recover the entire cost of the new CPUs and have enough left over to cover the additional 1/3rd of Devastator's chip, and pitch in on the CPU for the 4th system as well.

So all told, it's mostly just to be genuine, to upgrade Devastator, and to have a 4th system. My simple mind also appreciates only having to remember one CPU model number. And then there's the part about the spare PSU, RAM, cooler, 280Xs, and case being put to use instead of laying around being wasted.

If my salesmanship is any good, I'll only be out $250 (plus $160 for MB, $80 for M.2 SSD), and have an additional 28 thread beast to show for it.